Expert: K F. - 5/30/2010

Question
Dear Sir,
I am a student going to College Station,Texas for my higher studies. I have a query regarding stop-over. I would like to plan my journey from Hyderabad,India - College Station,USA in august. My query is that can I take a stop-over at New York for a week and then again continue my journey. My doubt is with regard to the immigration checks and luggage. Will i be permitted to stay at New york by the immigration authorities and will i be again permitted by the airlines to continue my journey with same luggage weight as that of international sector?

Answer
Hello and thank you for contacting me.
I am pretty certain that you can make a stop over in New York before arriving in Texas.  
If you have your documentations like VISAs, then there is no difference in where you enter the USA.  
Either way, if you are landing in New York from India, then you will have to go through customs and immigration before you can transfer to a domestic flight.  

When you are booking your flights, you can make it like 1-2 days stop over in New York.

About luggages, the limitations will be different.  Most international flights will permit 2 free checked in luggages.  In USA, except for Southewest Airlines, the airlines' charges bag fees to check them in. They can cost from $30/bag-$50.  

I hope this helps.  Try to travel as light as you can. What you can do also is to ship your bags to the final destination when you are in New York via UPS or FedEx.